CD Recording: More, More, More

When Adaptec, the company that made SCSI a household nameat least in some householdspurchased an Italian software company called Incat Systems in 1995, it seemed like an inconsequential deal. It's turned out to be anything but.

When Adaptec, the company that made SCSI a household nameat least in some householdspurchased an Italian software company called Incat Systems in 1995, it seemed like an inconsequential deal. It's turned out to be anything but. The little program Adaptec acquired, Easy CD, has grown into the best-selling software for burning audio and data CDs. In fact, this program, now known as Easy CD Creator, has succeeded so wellit has 85 percent of the total Microsoft Windows market share in software sold with CD drives and retail shrink-wrapped salesAdaptec spun off its CD software business into an independent unit, Roxio.

But Roxio suddenly faces stiff competition from companies scrambling to take advantage of the surge in CD drive sales. In February, Veritas Software Corp., known mostly for its storage programs, acquired Prassi Europe, the makers of the highly regarded PrimoCD and PrimoCD Pro. Veritas, which had licensed these programs from Prassi under the MyCD and MyCD Pro brands, then signed a pact with Hewlett-Packard to bundle PrimoCD and PrimoCD Pro with HP's CD drives, replacing Adaptec on some HP models.

Get Our Best Stories!

This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.